Machine for internally threading collapsible tube necks



May 22, 1951 G. GROSVSHANS MACHINE FOR INTERNALLY THREADING COLLAPSIBLETUBE NECKS Filed July 23, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

May 22 1951 G. GRossHANs 2,554,405

MACHINE FOR INTERNALLY THREADING COLLAPSIBLE TUBE NECKS I Filed July 23,1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Patented May 22, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR INTERNALLYTHREADING COLLAPSIBLE TUBE NECKS Application July 23, 1946, Serial No.685,758

s claims. 1

This invention relates in general to a machine for forming internalthreads on the necks of collapsible tubes, and more particularly theinven- `.tion contemplates the forming of these threads .with aburnishing or pressing operation asdistinguished from a metal-cuttingoperation.

One object of the invention is to provide such .a machine which shallembody novel and improved features of construction whereby atthread-forming tool may be inserted into the neck of a collapsibletube, pressed into contact with theiinterior walls of said neck andmoved longitudinally of the neck to form the desired screw thread andthen withdrawn from the neck, all automatically and with a minimum ofattention from the operator o1 the machine.

Another object is to provide a machine of this character which shallinclude novel and improved means for supporting the neck of the tubeagainst pressure imposed on the interior of the neck by thethread-forming tool so as to prevent distortion of the neck during thethread-forming operation and to insure the formation of a perfectthread.

A further object is to provide in a machine oi this character a noveland improved combination of mechanism for operating the threadformingtool as above described and for manipulating said means for supportingthe neck during the thread-forming operation in timed relation, wherebya tube to be threaded may be manually placed upon a mandrel inpredetermined relation to the thread-forming mecha nism, and thereaftera thread shall be automatically formed in the neck of the tube.

Other objects, advantages and results of the invention will be broughtout by the following description in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which Figure l is a top plan view of a thread-formingmachine embodying my invention, with the parts in thread-formingposition and showing, in horizontal section, a collapsible tube in themachine.

Figure 2 is a front elevational View of the machine showing thecollapsible tube in vertical section.

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the machine.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary enlarged View similar to Figure 1 but showingthe parts in normal position.

Specically describing the illustrated embodiment of the invention, thereference character 'I designates the base or frame of the machine 2upon which is journaled a horizontal shaft 2, at one end of which is amandrel 3 for supporting a collapsible tube i to be threaded. y

As shown, this collapsible tube is formed of ductile metal and comprisesa hollow cylindrical body portion 5 and a neck 6 at one end thereof, theinner end of which is slightly tapered outwardly from thebody of thetube as indicated at l', while the outer end 8 is intended to bethreaded to receive a plug closure. During operation of the machine, theshaft 2 and mandrel 3 are rotated by any suitablemeans such as abelt-and-pulley connection S with a suitable source of power, and toinsure rotation of the collapsible tube with the mandrel, the outer endof the mandrel has an extension II) on which is a thread which will cutitself into the tapered walls 'I of the neck when the tube is manuallyheld against rotation during rotation of the shaft in one direction. l

In accordance with the invention, a threadforming tool is normallydisposed in an out-otthe-way relation vto the mandrel 3 so that acollapsible tube 4 may be manually slipped endwise onto the mandrel, andafter the tube has been mounted on the mandrel, said tool is moved intoalignment with the neck of the tube, then advanced into said neck incontact with the inner wall thereof so as to form a thread, and thenwithdrawn to its normal position. While the thread-forming tool is incontact with the neck, a presser roller is forced against the outer,surface of the neck opposite the thread-forming tool so as to reenforcethe neck against the pressure exerted thereon by said tool.

More specically, the thread-forming tool comprises a disc I Ihavingbeveled circumferential faces I2 and I3 that are disposed at suchan angle to each other as to form a groove in the interior surface ofthe neck when the tool is pressed thereagainst while the neck is beingro'- tated. This disc is shown as mounted coaxially on a stem or rod I4that projects from one end of a shaft I5 which is slidably mounted in abearing block I6 that is adjustably mounted in Vertical plane as by adovetail connection I'I witha bracket I8 which is adjustably mounted bya bolt-and-slot connection I9 on an actuating block 2B that is slidablymounted as by a dovetail connection 2l upon the top ofthe base I so asto move toward and from the mandrel 3. With this construction, the blockI6 may. be adjusted vertically so that the axis of the shaft I5 and thethread-forming tool II will be located in approximately a horizontalaxial plane withthe mandrel, and by movement of the actuating block 20the tool may be moved toward and from the mandrel, perpendicularlythereto.

For sliding the shaft l to move the threadforming tool into and out ofthe neck of the tube, a lever 22 is pivotally mounted, intermediate itsends at 23, on the actuating block 29 and has one end pivotallyconnected at 24 to a sleeve 25 through which the shaft l5 extends and towhich said shaft is connected by nuts 26, one on the shaft at each endof the sleeve. The other end of the lever 22 carries a follower roller21 which follows, under the influence of a spring 21a, a cammed surface28 on a face cam 29 that is mounted on a shaft 3U journaled on the topof the base l. With this construction, the tool Il Will be moved intoand out of the neck E of the collapsible tube upon rotation of the cam28 and consequent oscillation of the lever 22, the cam surface 28 beingso shaped that the movement of the tool into the neck will provide theproper lead or pitch of thread to be formed, when the tool is in contactwith the inner walls of the neck.

For moving the tool horizontally, a second cam 3| is mounted on theshaft 39 and has a cam surface 32 on its edge engaging the followerroller 33 ,journaled on the actuating block 20. The shape of this camsurface is such that normally the actuating block and the thread-formingtool will be located in an out-of-the-way position with respect to themandrel 3 as shown in Figure 4, so that a collapsible tube may beslipped onto `or oif the mandrel 3; and when the actuating block 20 isin this position, the lever 22 will be in a position to locate thethread-forming tool outwardly beyond the end of the neck of acollapsible tube on the mandrel.

When the machine is started in operation, the cam surface 32 will rstmove the block `20 toward the mandrel to bring the shaft I5 intoalignment with the neck of the collapsible tube so .as to locate theedge of the thread-forming tool in proper position to engage the innersurface of the neck of the collapsible tube for forming a thread uponadvancement of the tool l I into the neck.

Thereupon, the cam surface 28 will actuate the lever 22 so as to movethe tool Il into theneck to form the thread, and this operation willcontinue for a predetermined time until the desired length of thread hasbeen produced. Then a shoulder 34 on the cam surface 32 will move thetool l! out of contact with the neck of the tube, whereupon the camsurface 28 will actuate the lever 22 more rapidly to withdraw the toolfrom the neck. Then upon continued rotation of the cam a spring 35 willmove the block 20 to its normal position as shown in Figure 4 for theremoval of the threaded tube and the insertion of a new tube to bethreaded. The operation above described may then be repeated..

While the threading tool Il is in thread-forming contact with the innerwall of the neck 6 of the collapsible tube, a presser roller 31 ispressed against the outer surface of the neck opposite .the threadingtoo-l, and as shown this roller is journaled in a bracket 38 which isadjustably mounted at 39 on an actuating block vl0 vthat may beidentical in construction and mounted in the vsame way on the base l asthe actuating block 20. This block 40 is actuated toward and from thecollapsible tube on the mandrel by a cam 4l on the shaft 3l] whichengages a follower roller 42 on the actuating block 40, the cam having acammed surface of the proper shape to move and hold the roller 31 in theneck, and as shown this mechanism includes a cutting roller 44 journaledon a bracket 45 adjustably mounted at 46 on an actuating block 41corresponding to the blocks 20 and di) which is actuated to move thecutter` 44 against the collapsible tube by a cam 48 engaging a followerroller 49 on the block which is held in contact with the cam by a spring5l).

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the cam shaft 3@may be rotated in any suitable manner, but one desirable means comprisesa chain-and-sprocket connection 5I be tween the main shaft 2 and theshaft 30.

It will be understood that after the threading of one tube has beencompleted, the tube must be removed from the mandrel manually, andanother functi-on of the roller 31 is to loosen the threaded connectionbetweenthe tapered portion l of the neck and the projection I0 on themandrel, so that the operator may remove the tube by simply pulling thelatter longitudinally from the mandrel with or without a slight twist inthe direction to unscrew the tube from the projection I0.

While I have shown and described the invention as embodying certaindetails -of construction, it should be understood that the structure ofthe machine may be widely modied and changed 'by those skilled in theart within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. A machine for internally threading collapsible tube necks comprisinga frame, a mandrel journaled on said frame to support and rotate acollapsible tube on a horizontal axis with the neck of the tubeprojecting from one end of the mandrel, means for rotating the mandrelabout its axis, a threading tool, mounting means for saidtool includinga block movable toward and from the axis of rotation of said mandrel, aguide on said block in which said tool is supported for longitudinalmovement in directions parallel to said axis, means including arotatable cam shaft and a cam thereon for actuating said block to movesaid tool from a normal position at one side of said axis and outwardlyof said end of the mandrel to a certain point at a predetermineddistance from said axis and outwardly of the end of said mandrel and tomomentarily hold said tool at said predetermined distance to contactwith the inner wall of said tube neck upon longitudinal movement -of thetool, means including a lever on said block pivotally ccnnected to saidtool, and a cam on said cam shaft engaging said lever to actuate saidto-ol longitudinally from said certain point into engagement with 'thewall cf said tube neck and to continue said movement for a predeterminedtime at a speed to produce the desired thread lead while the tool is incontact with said walls of said tube neck. Y

2. A machine as dened in claim 1, with the addition of a roller movabletoward and from UNITED STATES PATENTS said mandrel and means for movingthe roller Number Name Date toward Said mandrel t0 0011123101', With theGXET'OI' 267,215 Johnson :Nov- 7 1882 of said tube neck opposite saidtool while the 501,547 Thomson July 18, 1893 latter is in Contact withthe inner Wa11s of said 5 513,334 Mettler Jam 23, 1994 neck to supportthe neck walls against the Out- 872,728 Hartness Dea 3, 1907 WardPressure 0f Sad '0001- 1,076,985 Knupfer oct. 28, 1913 3. A machine asdefined in claim 1, wherein 1,254,926 Carvalho Jan 22, 1913 thefirst-mentioned cam is formed to actuate said 1,457,179 McGinnis May 29,1923 block to move said tool further in the frst-men- 10 2,257,253Wemhoner Sem-, 30, 1941 OIled direction 0111) Of Contact With the tubeneck 21361612 Reed Jan" 16) 1945 at the end of said longitudinalmovement of the 2,372,911 Remington et a1 Mal.. 29 1945 tool, and thesecond-mentioned cam is formed to 2,421,655 Seyforth June 3J 1947actuate said lever in the direction to move said 100110 said given pointafter the mst-mentioned 15 FOREIGN PATENTS movement of said tool. NumberCountry Date GEORGE GROSSI-LANS. 64,045 Switzerland Apr. 15, 1913488,841 Germany Jan. 8, 193D REFERENCES CITED The following referencesare of record in the 20 Ille of this patent:

